Top 25 College Football Team Rankings

Today’s Harris Interactive College Football Poll(SM) shows the Top 25 results compiled from rankings submitted by the Harris Interactive panel of former coaches, players and administrators, and current and former members of the media. Auburn moved past Oregon and into the #1 ranking after its win over South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game. TCU, , and Stanford each were idle this week, and retained the number three, four, and five positions respectively.

Other teams receiving votes: Connecticut 128; Maryland 70; Navy 50; Tulsa 26; Northern Illinois 24; Arizona 16; Iowa 16; Notre Dame 11; North Carolina State 8; San Diego State 7; Miami (OH) 6; Air Force 4; South Florida 2.

Dropped out of Top 25: Northern Illinois; Arizona.

Highlights of December 5 Harris Interactive Coll ege Football Poll  
Rank Team Record Points Previous Game
(weekend of Dec 4)
Previous
Week’s
Rank
 
1 Auburn (75) 13-0 2,809 Beat No. 17 South Carolina 56-17 2  
2 Oregon (38) 12-0 2,773 Beat Oregon State 37-20 1  
3 TCU (1) 12-0 2,613 Idle 3  
4 Wisconsin 11-1 2,443 Idle 4  
5 Stanford 11-1 2,421 Idle 5  
6 Ohio State 11-1 2,293 Idle 6  
7 Michigan State 11-1 2,104 Idle 7  
8 Arkansas 10-2 1,992 Idle 8  
9 Oklahoma 11-2 1,926 Beat No. 13 Nebraska 23-20 9  
10 Boise State 11-1 1,800 Beat Utah State 50-14 10  
11 LSU 10-2 1,625 Idle 11  
12 Virginia Tech 11-2 1,623 Beat No. 20 Florida State 44-33 12  
13 Missouri 10-2 1,368 Idle 14  
14 Nevada 12-1 1,302 Beat Louisiana Tech 35-17 15  
15 Oklahoma State 10-2 1,232 Idle 16  
16 Alabama 9-3 1,155 Idle 18  
17 Nebraska 10-3 1,136 Lost to No. 9 Oklahoma 23-20 13  
18 Texas A&M 9-3 1,077 Idle 19  
19 Utah 10-2 685 Idle 21  
20 South Carolina 9-4 631 Lost to No. 2 Auburn 56-17 17  
21 West Virginia 9-3 519 Beat Rutgers 35-14 23  
22 Mississippi State 8-4 500 Idle 22  
23 Florida State 9-4 274 Lost to No. 12 Virginia Tech 44-33 20  
24 Hawaii 10-3 191 Beat UNLV 59-21 NR  
25 Central Florida 10-3 190 Beat Southern Methodist 17-7 NR  
Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.

Poll Methodology and Process

The 2010 Harris Interactive College Football Poll is comprised of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former members of the media who have committed to submit rankings for the top 25 college football teams each week. These panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the 11 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) offices and the independent schools. The panel has been designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and independent institutions. Today, 114 poll participants submitted their top 25 college football team rankings. Harris Interactive applies a standard statistical practice that allows it to identify potential instability, error or bias associated with unusual ranking patterns. Those rankings that are identified through the analysis are verified to ensure that each panelist’s intent is accurately reflected.

This week’s rankings and other information about the poll can be found at www.harrisinteractive.com/bcspoll and www.bcsfootball.org.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what’s next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.